Dear Friends,
We are celebrating our busiest month ever — 38 Parent-Daughter workshops across the country and nine Parent Education presentations — reaching over 2000 parents and 450 girls! That’s a lot of people laughing, playing, and developing the emotional and relationship skills necessary to live a life of leadership.
People are often surprised that we work with so many parents, yet parent education is actually at the core of what makes GLI so effective. Studies show that the number one influencer on a girl’s leadership ambitions is her mom, followed by her teachers and her dad. When we teach a parent, we are reaching the primary role model who will be there long after our program is over. Parents often tell us that they signed up for a GLI workshop for their daughter, but then found themselves learning skills and applying them to their personal or professional life. Girls love seeing their parents try new skills and take risks. Thank you to all the parents who came out for a presentation, a four-part workshop, or an intensive weekend to practice the skills for raising a generation of resilient girls. We couldn’t do it without you!
This is the month that we launch Summer Camp 2014! Read on to learn about all the GLI Summer Camp traditions that we are celebrating, as well as the new changes that we are introducing to make sure that 2014 is our best summer yet. Apply now to secure your spot and 2013’s tuition level. Hope to see you there!
All my best,
Simone Marean
Co-Founder and Executive Director
FFF Award Coming to the GLI Community! 
Our Fierce Fabulous Friend (FFF) award is a Summer Camp tradition. This award is given to a camper who contributes positively to the camp community. Instead of a traditional trophy or certificate, we give the FFF a boa. That’s right, a boa. GLI will now extend this tradition by announcing an FFF every quarter in appreciation for her or his contribution to our organization. We will be honoring amazing donors, volunteers, and ambassadors.
Our first FFF will be announced in November’s newsletter. Stay tuned! For now, check out a fabulous blog post from Emily for some reflections on FFFs at Summer Camp.
October’s Girl Find: APA’s “The Sexualization of Girls”
Body peace, the ability to confidently accept and embrace one’s own appearance, is one of the biggest challenges facing girls today. The ability to be at peace with one’s body opens a path to leadership opportunities. But it’s not always easy to love ourselves when the media gives us completely different messages.
The American Psychological Association (APA) invited a roundtable of six middle school girls to share their thoughts about the positive and negative images of women in the media today. It’s wonderful to see the consciousness of these young girls who speak against the over-sexualized image of women and state their respect for positive female role models like Michelle Obama and Adele. But perhaps the most promising moment of this eight-minute video is near the end, when one girl adamantly critiques these mainstream portrayals of women, asserting “We have a voice too.” Instead of falling victim to contrived definitions of physical beauty, these girls champion being true to their personalities. Click here to watch the full roundtable.
GLI Summer Camp is Open! 
Drum roll please! Announcing the opening of GLI Summer Camp 2014! We are thrilled to open the application process for girls who will be rising into grades 6-12 next summer. GLI Summer Camp will return to the campus of Mount Holyoke College for our fifth summer there. That means a return to awesome food, a beautiful wooded campus, a great pool, luscious playing fields, and a long commitment to empowering young women for a lifetime of leadership. Summer 2014 will be full of the GLI traditions that participants love, including an exceptional community of girls, fun and inspiring staff, a daily dose of morning games, life-changing workshops, creative arts projects, fitness choices, fun evening activities, and off-campus field trips to a high ropes course that will never be forgotten. We are also making some exciting changes this summer. Arts Fest is coming to Session One for rising middle school girls. We are excited to be able to offer middle schoolers this engaging three-day immersive arts experience, which has been a highlight for our high school girls for three years. And for young women rising into grades 10-12, alumnae and new participants alike, we have three new programs to choose from: Leadership through Spoken Word, Visual Arts, and Social Change Projects. Begin your application process now to secure the 2013 tuition rate. Questions? Reach out to our Director of Summer Camp, Julia Loonin. Julia can fill you in on what Summer Camp is like or connect you with an alumni family to learn more.
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